It seems obvious but having a good goalkeeper in football is incredibly important.
Just one save could be the difference between a win and a draw. Likewise, just one mistake could be the difference between a draw and a loss. You simply cannot expect your side to be successful without a good No.1.
However, they’re not easy to find - and come at a pretty hefty price these days.
And even when you do splash a lot of money to sign one you can’t always guarantee they will be any good (we’re looking at you, Kepa).
On Saturday, goalkeepers seemed to be at the centre of the five matches that were played.
Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez kept a clean sheet against his former club, Arsenal, while Alphonse Areola and Lukasz Fabianski didn’t concede during the 0-0 draw between Fulham and West Ham.
However, David de Gea and Robin Olsen didn’t cover themselves in too much glory during the 3-3 draw between Manchester United and Everton. Both goalkeepers were criticised for their roles in contributing to the six-goal thriller.
And it got us thinking: Who are the best and worst goalkeepers in the league right now?
Well, we headed over to Tiermaker to rank 33 goalkeepers in England’s top-flight from ‘World-class’ to ‘Awful'.
Having never played a single minute of football wearing goalkeeper gloves, I think I’m the perfect person to point at professional goalkeepers and say they’re ‘Awful'.
Here’s what we came up with:
Awful
- Adrian
- Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Robin Olsen
Adrian has been relegated to Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper, while Kepa is lucky to still be Chelsea’s back-up. If Olsen’s performance vs Man Utd is anything to go by, he’s not very good...
Not great
- Jordan Pickford
- Alex McCarthy
- Fraser Forster
- Willy Caballero
- Aaron Ramsdale
- Paulo Gazzaniga
- Sergio Romero
- Mat Ryan
- Darren Randolph
- Wayne Hennessey
- Kiko Casilla
- Tom Heaton
Twelve goalkeepers have been put in the ‘Not great’ category - although most of them are back-ups so can be excused.
There are a few No.1’s, though, with Jordan Pickford, Alex McCarthy and Aaron Ramsdale being included. The trio have been far from convincing this campaign and can perhaps consider themselves fortunate they don’t have a particularly good reserve goalkeeper pushing them for their spot.
Decent
- David de Gea
- Edouard Mendy
- Bernd Leno
- Illan Meslier
- Alphonse Areola
- Rui Patricio
- Lukasz Fabianski
- Dean Henderson
- Hugo Lloris
- Martin Dubravka
- Karl Darlow
- Emiliano Martinez
- Sam Johnstone
- Vicente Guaita
The most populated category is simply ‘Decent.’ These goalkeepers are good enough but aren’t anything special. Capable of being brilliant but also gave the odd mistake in them.
Those goalkeepers that play first-team football are De Gea, Edouard Mendy, Bernd Leno, Illan Meslier, Alphonse Areola, Rui Patricio, Lukasz Fabianski, Hugo Lloris, Martin Dubravka/Karl Darlow, Martinez, Sam Johnstone and Vicente Guaita.
Meanwhile, Dean Henderson is the only back-up goalkeeper that makes this tier. De Gea better watch out...
Quality
- Kasper Schmeichel
- Nick Pope
Two goalkeepers feature in the category between ‘Decent and ‘World-Class’ with Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel and Burnley’s Nick Pope.
Both have been incredibly important for their side for years and mistakes from the pair are extremely rare.
World-class
- Ederson
- Alisson
The Premier League has two ‘World-class’ goalkeepers - Ederson and Alisson. The Brazilian duo have helped Manchester City and Liverpool become the dominant teams in England.
Ederson is better with the ball at his feet but we think Alisson just edges it.
Final rankings
We’re sure you all 100% agree with this list and there will be absolutely no contentious decisions…
I think we can all agree that Ederson and Alisson are the two best goalkeepers in the division, while Adrian, Kepa Olsen are less good.
We make Schmeichel and Pope as the best of the rest - although the likes of Leno, Areola and Lloris will feel hard done by not be categorised as ‘Quality.’
We sincerely apologise to all the goalkeepers we’ve played in the ‘Not great’ category - especially Pickford, McCarthy and Ramsdale who are considered their club’s best stop-stopper.
One thing’s for sure, they’re all much better than us.
